Teen Titans: The Shadow of the Reaper
Disclaimer: I don't own either the Teen Titan or anyone else who appears here.
To say the scene before me is odd is an understatement, at least to me. It would have been a beautiful day, sun is shining from a clear sky, and it should be warm enough for the beaches. But I can't say for sure, since I've not felt anything for days. But where the weather today is perfect, the mood of the crowd before me couldn't be more abysmal, but then I guess there's nothing to smile about a funeral. A part of me wants to deny what I am seeing now, telling me I am dreaming that this can't possibly be true. But somewhere deep down inside of me I know the truth, the body, or what's left of it, resting in the coffin surrounded by flowers, is mine.
Flashback, 5 days before
Now when I remember it, I end up looking at it like I am a spectator, I can see myself rushing into battle along with my friends, the Teen Titans, self proclaimed protectors of Jump City. I see us coming up on the bank robbery in progress, I see the heavily armed robbers spilling out of the bank with their loot. Then our fearless leader yells his patented orders, rushing us into battle, that's when the bullets begin to fly. The we take cover as best we can, Robin orders up forward and we take cover behind an empty bus that's been abandoned, parking it halfway across the road. Robin suspected the robbers where a former military unit gone bad, since some kept running back and forth between the bank while the rest kept us pinned none of them speaking. A sudden "whosh" and a blast of warm air sends us flying, I could now see one of the robbers was quickly reloading a rocket launcher he had used to turn our bus cover into a blazing ball of fire. I had been standing farthest from the bus when it blew, so I got to my feet the fastest. I can see through the inferno that the robber with the launcher has already picked his new target, time seems to slow, the rocket is aiming straight for us, I have only one choice, I block the rocket using myself as a shield to save my friends. The barrier I create is only strong enough to stop the initial explosion; I throw my cloak wide trying to intercept the shrapnel, but at a cost. I feel them penetrate my body, strangely I feel no pain, even as time seems to return to normal speed, I see my body turned to bloody ruin. From where I stand now I see my friends still lying on the ground straining to look through the smoke, the smoke is cruel, it lifts enough for them to see me still standing, I remember I wanted to make sure they were unharmed, so I tried to turn but I fall to the ground when I try. I end up looking at the sky, that day it was also beautiful, I can't turn my head and I feel so strangely tired. My eyes swing into a little more focus when my friends enter my field of vision, I can feel a hand beneath head lifting me slightly, shock and disbelief is written on their faces. I try to speak, only to choke on the warm sticky fluid that is my blood. As if the moment had been waiting for me to do so, my eyes began to lose focus again, my eyelids become heavy, I hear screaming and crying as my eyes finally close for the final time.
I suddenly open them again, seeing the robbers make their getaway, I see my friends gathering around my body. I call out to them to tell them that I am unharmed, but they don't hear me, I run over to make eye contact, but they do not see me even when I am standing right in front of them, yelling at them to snap them out of it. I receive my first shock when I try to grab Robin's collar to shake him, my hands pass right through him. The sudden realization his me, I am dead, I am invisible, unheard and unseen, a ghost.
End of flashback.
Thinking back now I find it almost funny it ended like this, sure we all knew the risk we took every time we moved out, but we had faced everything from psychopaths, alien invaders, calculating tyrant wanna-bees and even a demonic invasion for crying out loud. And trough all the horror we always came out on top, my friends and I, sure some of our victories felt hollow but we endured, the five of us. And now I had gone and died in something as stupid as a robbery. Life's cruel joke I suppose, with all the danger in our lives I think we may have forgotten how dangerous our line of work really is. That while we may not flinch when faced by a horde of aliens, but ordinary people may go into therapy after being mugged.
When he takes the stand, I am surprised that there was a priest that would hold the ceremony. I never was one of his God's children. I see my closest friends on the front rows, two of them crying openly two others fighting to remain strong. I see the rest of the extended family that is the Teen Titans, all four teams have gathered here today. I spot a few representatives from the city and a few other places we helped save, I even spot a few Justice Leaguers in the back, which kind of surprises me since we never had much contact with them. Taking a closer look I am even more surprised when I see it is Superman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter, I spot Batman sitting in a tree at the cemetery fence hiding in the shadows.
The priest begins his opening speech, which sounds like formality to me, he doesn't speak very long before handing over the podium to Robin. I feel I need to leave; I don't want to hear his shattered voice again. I had seen my friend break down completely when they returned to the Tower. Starfire flew off almost immediately wanting solitude, when night fell one could see the flashed of green on the horizon, the flashes of her anger and grief demolishing a distant valley. Robin had remained stoic till he reached his room, where he had dropped down into his char string into empty space for a second before looking at a picture of the team he had framed on his table. First the tears star to fall, then the rage takes hold, he screams as he goes about destroying his room, nothing is left intact except the picture he now hugs to his chest. Beastboy ran teary eyed to his room first, but couldn't stay there, his mind seemed to be in chaos, he couldn't decide whenever to scream or curl up in ball. In the end he collapses on his bed. Cyborg wandered the tower like a zombie, till he found himself sitting on a pile of spare tires. Like Robin he caches a glimpse of something, a red toolbox, a gift he had given me once after I helped him reassemble his first car. Cyborg gently hugs the toolbox, as if it was a baby, and rocks gently back and forth on the tires.
As I face away from the funeral, I spot the mass of people standing outside the cemetery, kept at bay by the police. My death seemed to have sparked more interest in me than I ever wanted in life; there had been no end to the specials and extras. Strangely in life I was never the focus of any sort of media attention, few times I had read that the Titans only had four members, and once that I was some kind of fan that the rest of the team allowed to tag along. It didn't really bother me, better they made up their stories than knowing the truth. And I hated being the center of attention, made me feel like a freak.
It's strange, I've read a lot of books about people that have had near death experiences and the like. Dante's account seemed to have rooted itself and a lot of the other accounts seemed to mirror his to a degree, but some are a bit more original, with the writer's claiming to wake up at heaven's doorstep, in purgatory or hell. Some even claim to have been led to these places by their inhabitants, but none of these had happened to me, yet. I wonder why I still linger, days after my heart stopped beating nothing has happened. No angles, no clouds, not even my damned father had come to claim me yet, something I suspect he would dearly want to do. I begin to wonder if there really is an afterlife.
I notice that there seems to be a kind of bright light behind me, its intensity rising, no one at the gate seems to see it. I turn to face whatever is coming; I see nothing except the light and the shape of a human taking form within. It seems to be wearing a cloak and a hood, the light is too bright too see its color, before I can see anymore of him it speaks, its voice reminds me of the voice God used in a movie Gar once made me watch:
"Raven of the Teen Titans, you are needed!"